


An Earlier Jump

by twilightHDfan



Series: Becoming a Winchester [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-29
Updated: 2012-05-29
Packaged: 2017-11-06 05:52:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/415461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilightHDfan/pseuds/twilightHDfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean had known his little brother less than twenty four hours and he might have lost him already. Sequel to Hidden Plans</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Earlier Jump

Driving away from the Milligan house, away from Adam, Dean wondered what the thing that was bugging him was. For a moment he thought that it might have been just because he was leaving a brother behind, a brother who wasn't protected, who wasn't even in high school yet, who had no idea how to protect himself.

But he knew that his dad was right, that they couldn't raise Adam in this world. The kid deserved a chance at a normal life and Dean wanted that for him, wanted Adam not to resent him for their lifestyle.

So it wasn't that.

It wasn't until he reached the outer limit of the town that he realized the thing that had been bugging him.

Stopping the car, he frowned, as he thought back to Adam going into the house.

The dark house.

The dark house with no lights on.

Swinging the car around, he tried to tell himself that he was just being paranoid, that not every parent would leave the lights on until their kid came home.

Except … except even John had done that, waiting up, ready to glare at him for sneaking out and trying to sneak back in when he'd been a teenager. At least when he was actually home and not out hunting that was.

His heart raced as he pulled up to the dark house again, checking that he still had his gun in its usual place, before jumping out of the car and making his way up to the front door. He told himself that he was wrong, that hunting had made him suspicious of everything, but the pit in his stomach wouldn't go away.

He banged on the door with his fist, waiting a few seconds before doing it again, his worry going up a notch.

"Adam?" he called, swallowing hard when there was no answer, his hand trying the knob, cursing to himself when he found it to be locked. "Adam!"

Deciding that he could just repair the door if he was wrong, Dean took a step back, kicking the door open and drawing his gun, quickly moving into the house. The fact that no one made any noise anywhere in the house was worrying and the house was unnaturally still. Dean had the feeling that there were no living bodies in the place, his hairs standing on end at the ominous feeling he was getting.

"Adam?" he called again, making his way through the house, knowing that the kid wouldn't have gone to bed that quickly, that his mom would've still been telling him off for running away.

After sweeping through the house twice and picking nothing up on the EMF meter, the tightness in Dean's chest increased.

He had known Adam for less than twenty four hours and already he'd let the kid down. Cursing to himself he pulled his phone out, hating the call he was about to make, but needing to know what his Dad had been doing here the first time around, and whether it might have anything to do with the Milligan's disappearance. His gut telling him that this was related to something supernatural.

"Dean?"

"Dad," Dean replied, rubbing a hand over his face. "Adam's gone."

The silence lasted for a long moment before John spoke again.

"When?" John replied, Dean almost cringing at the hard edge to the voice. "How?"

"I dropped him off," Dean answered. "It wasn't until I was driving off that I realized something was wrong."

"I'm on my way," John replied, his voice sharp, like it was when he was worried. "Anything to go on?"

"The house is all dark," Dean said, walking through the house, trying one of the light switches, not surprised when it didn't turn on. "I've swept through twice, with EMF, but nothing seems out of place, going to take a closer look now. Dad … what were you doing here all those years ago? Could it have anything to do with what happened to Adam tonight?"

"No," John replied, his tone hard. "I finished the job, there was nothing left by the time I was done with the monster."

"Okay," Dean answered. "Well, I'll take another look, see if there's something I might have missed."

"Alright, I'll be there soon," John replied. "Watch your back, son."

"Yeah," Dean answered, chest still tight as he hung up.

Going through the house he felt frustration welling up in him, surprised when the door he was trying upstairs wouldn't budge, something blocking it from the inside. Taking a few steps back, he put his shoulder into it, biting off a groan when the door barely moved.

Taking a look through the crack, he could see a bedroom, clearly Adam's mothers, and the pit in his stomach grew. Pushing a few more times, he managed to open the door enough that he could squeeze his body inside.

Nothing seemed to be out of place, the room neat and tidy, pictures on the cupboard. He couldn't help but reach out and pick up one of the photos, seeing a blonde woman and his dad smiling.

It made something twist in his chest, a lump lodging in his throat, as he saw the happiness on his father's face.

Putting the photo back, his eyes swept around the room again, falling to a dent in the floor. Frowning, he leaned down fingers running over the gouges, heart racing as he realized they could've been caused by someone scraping their finger nails along the floor.

The gouges seemed to head under the bed and Dean quickly pushed it out of the way, cursing as he saw the small vent under the bed.

"Damn," he muttered, as he took off the grate, his fingers coming away red and sticky, strands of blonde hair coming away as well.

He'd known his little brother less than twenty four hours and he might have lost him already.

**SNSN**

Waking suddenly, it took Adam a few minutes to remember what had happened.

He’d gotten home, Dean having driven him, and had gone inside. He’d been surprised when his mom hadn’t been waiting for him in the hallway, walking through the house, a pit forming in his stomach, until he’d reached the kitchen.

His mom had been standing there, a smile on her face, and he’d known right then that something was seriously wrong. That thought had been confirmed when something came up behind him, hitting him over the head, as his mom smiled on, everything fading away to darkness.

Straining his eyes, Adam reached his hands up slowly, his fingers brushing against the soft fabric of the roof of his prison, attached to something harder on top. Taking a deep breath, he tried to ignore his racing heart, ignore the panic that wanted to take over, pushing his hands flat against the roof and pushing.

“… looking through the house now.”

Freezing, Adam took a moment, before turning his head to glance out the small crack that had appeared when he’d pushed, swallowing hard when he saw his mom talking to a young man.

“You sure it’s him?” the man asked.

“Oh, yeah,” his mom replied, sounding nothing like she usually did, looking nothing like the person he knew. “It’s definitely Winchester.”

Adam slowly let the top close, his breaths coming in fast pants, his heart racing, as he realized that they were after someone from his family.

Or maybe him. After all, John Winchester was his father, so they might consider him one. But why would his mom be acting so out of character, why would she hurt him, why would she want to hurt John or Dean?

Unless … unless, it wasn’t his mom. Hadn’t he just learnt that all the monsters and supernatural stories he’d heard were real? If ghosts were real, then maybe shape shifters were, or vampires, or … or …

Swallowing hard, he closed his eyes, trying to think of what he could do. If that wasn’t his mom, then where was she? And would Dean and John know that they were missing?

He had to assume that they wouldn’t, that they wouldn’t realize until John came for one of his visits and by then it would be too late. Except hadn’t the monsters just talked about someone searching the house? It made more sense that that person was the ‘Winchester’ they were talking about and not him. Which meant John or Dean were in trouble.

His heart stopped a beat as he heard footsteps moving closer to where he was, his breaths coming faster, as he squeezed his eyes shut, willing the person away.

“What are you doing?” his mom asked, muffled and barely loud enough to hear through whatever it was he was stuck in.

“I’m hungry,” the man said, Adam sure that he was standing right next to where he was, the man’s voice much clearer then the thing that was pretending to be his mom.

“Winchester’s there,” fake-mom said, obviously moving closer.

“Aww, come on,” the man replied. “Just a little snack? Before the main course.”

He could hear the smirk in the man’s voice and when his gut clenched hard, the stray thought that maybe he was the thing that was going to be on the menu crossed his mind, his heart beat accelerating as the thought became more solid in his mind.

If that was true, then what had happened to his mom? Had she …

He cut that thought off, not wanting to follow where it led. Right now he had to think of getting out of here, of getting to John or Dean, and warning them that there were monsters hunting them.

He just had to hang on long enough for his dad or brother, or both, to find him, because he had a feeling that both Dean and John would be there, looking for him, having figured out that he was missing.

Unless these things could look like him too.

Swallowing hard, he tried to put on a brave face, tried to think of what Dean would do in this situation. He’d probably laugh in the monsters faces, before taking them out. But Adam didn’t have any weapons, and he was twelve, and wanted to know where his mom was.

“No,” fake-mom said, her voice almost a hiss. “I want to make him watch as we do it, so that he feels helpless, the hero unable to protect his own family, watching the light leave his son’s eyes.”

“Fine,” the man answered, disappointment clear in his tone. “But I get first dibs.”

“Fine,” fake-mom replied. “Let’s go.”

Adam listened as the foot-steps moved away, part of him relaxing now that the imminent threat of being eaten, and Adam wasn’t about to think too much about that, was gone.

It took him a few moments to actually be able to move, his hand taking a second longer than usual to respond. When it finally did, he was able to push up against the top of his prison again, his heart in his throat as he moved it aside, waiting for the things to come back, to find out that he’d been awake the whole time.

Sticking his head up slowly, his eyes swept around the room he was in, taking in the cement walls, the dripping water, moss growing, and he realized that he was in the sewer. He and Jeremy had gotten down into one once, before both their mom’s had found out and they’d been grounded for a month.

It didn’t really help him now, because they had only ever made it just inside the entrance, and looking around, he could see two different tunnels leading out of the room and he had no idea where he was.

Getting out of the box he was in, his legs felt weak as he stood up, the room spinning for a moment before settling. Turning his head, he felt his stomach lurch as he took in the thing that had been his prison.

A coffin.

He’d always thought that it would be funny to play in a coffin, pretend he was a vampire, or zombie, but now …

Looking around the room again, he saw three other coffins, his stomach lurching again, his hands shaking as he took a few steps towards the center of the room. Swallowing hard, he moved towards the closest coffin, his hands shaking even more as he reached out, pushing the lid open.

**SNSN**

Staring at the screen, Dean ran a hand over his face, part of him hoping he was wrong, that his dad hadn’t made a mistake that could cost them another member of their family.

He froze as he heard a rattling at the front door, pulling his gun and slowly making his way towards it. His heart rate kicked up a notch as he pointed his gun at the door, waiting for whatever it was to come in.

“Dean?”

He couldn’t help the sigh of relief that escaped him, as he realized that it was his dad. He hadn’t expected him for another half an hour, but he should have known that John would hustle when it was one of his boys in danger. And he still couldn’t believe that that meant more than Sam and him now.

“Dad,” he replied, opening the door, watching as his father stalked inside the house.

“So what did you find?” John asked, eyes scanning the room.

“No sign of Kate or Adam,” Dean answered, following his dad as he went room to room. “A room upstairs was barricaded from the inside, there’s nail gouges on the floor heading to the grate under the bed, blood and hair leading to the sewer system.”

John turned and nodded his head.

“That’s not all,” Dean continued, nervous to share with his dad the information he’d found while waiting, “those grave robberies that you came here for last time? They’ve started up again.”

“Yeah,” John replied, grim look on his face. “And the guy I worked the job with is dead.”

“So this thing,” Dean said. “Isn’t as dead as you thought?”

“It’s dead, Dean,” John answered. “I blew its head off, only way to kill a ghoul.”

Taking in the new information, Dean filed through everything he knew about ghouls, and if his dad said he blew its head off, then he did. He watched as John made his way upstairs, knowing that his dad would to go over everything in the house before they moved on. Dean used that time to continue researching, ignoring the part of him that remembered how much easier it had been when they had their resident egg head.

“So … another ghoul then?” Dean asked, as his dad walked back into the kitchen after finishing his sweep of the house.

“Possibly,” John answered, running a hand over his face. “What else did you find?”

“Like I said increase in reported grave robberies over the past six months,” he replied, moving the computer so his father could see. “And it looks like the guy you worked with disappeared about two months ago.”

Dean watched as his father’s eyes flicked over the screen, John wiping a hand over his face before nodding once.

“If it is ghouls, then they’re most likely using the sewers,” he said, opening his duffle bag and pulling out his shot gun. “Only way to kill these things is to take their heads off.”

“I know, Dad,” Dean replied, trying not to feel too annoyed, reminding himself that his dad was worried.

They both jumped as the back door flew open. Dean drew his gun as a blonde woman came to stand in front of them, a dark haired man behind her, the two intruders looking at them in shock, before the woman flew into John’s arms.

“John, thank god you’re here,” the woman said, hugging his dad, Dean lowering his gun slightly to the ground. “I can’t find Adam anywhere, I was working the night shift and got your call, but when I came home he wasn’t here. Luke’s been helping me look for him but we can’t find him anywhere.”

Looking at the woman, Dean couldn’t help but feel there was something off about her, something that had his hunter senses ringing, telling him that there was a danger here. He watched his father carefully, relaxing as he realized, even though his dad seemed to be comforting the woman, there was a look in his eyes that Dean knew meant his dad felt something off too.

“Can you think of anywhere he might be?” John asked, sweeping some of the blonde hair back. Dean would bet his last dollar that the strands from the grate upstairs would match this woman … which meant that Kate was most likely dead. And the woman in front of them was most likely a monster.

Ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach, Dean told himself that the fact Kate was most likely dead, didn’t mean that Adam was. Adam could still be out there, waiting for them to rescue him. He could still be alive, no … would still be alive. Dean refused to lose another brother, refused to have failed another one of his siblings, especially one he had just realized existed.

“Adam and his friends,” Kate started, a thoughtful look on her face. “They sometimes go down into the sewers. We caught them there the other week. It’s possible he went down with one of his friends.”

Snorting, Dean shook his head, ignoring the look his father sent him. The woman was clearly a monster, if she thought they’d believe that a twelve year old boy would disappear down into the sewers with a friend that just magically turned up in the middle of the night.

Might have been possible if it was him or … him or Sam, but not Adam. Not after what he’d just found out. And Kate would’ve come home straight away, she wouldn’t have stayed at work and left Adam enough time to disappear.

“We should probably split up,” monster-Kate continued, Dean sharing a look with his dad that told him that they were on the same page. The monsters clearly wanted to jump them at some point in the sewers. “Luke’s a hunter. Not like you, but large game, and he has his shot gun.”

“Sounds like a plan,” John replied, giving her a smile so fake that Dean was surprised the woman didn’t realize they were onto them.

**SNSN**

Leaning his head back against the wall, Adam tried to stop his stomach from churning, wishing he had some water so he could wash his mouth out, to wash away the lingering taste of the vomit.

He had thought he could handle anything when he’d opened the coffin, he just hadn’t expected …

Closing his eyes, he wiped away the tears that ran down his cheeks, only to stop when he realized that they kept coming. His tears formed wet spots on his jeans when he brought his knees up and pushed his face against them. If he hadn’t gone looking for his brothers, if he hadn’t stowed away in the Impala, maybe his … maybe his mother would still be alive, maybe he could’ve helped her somehow, stopped the monsters.

But he had and now his mother was gone.

Taking in large gulps of air, he looked up at the coffin he’d opened, hoping this was all some bad, bad dream, and he’d wake up safe at home, his mom knocking on his door, telling him to get up for breakfast.

But he knew it wasn’t. Monsters were real, and they’d killed his mother.

And they were going to kill him.

Swallowing, he pushed his pain to the back of his mind, telling himself that he’d deal with it later, that he couldn’t afford to break down now, not when those things would be back for him.

Not to mention that his Dad or Dean could be with them, completely unaware that the woman wasn’t actually his mother, but a monster that wanted them dead. He couldn’t lose more of his family tonight, especially when he’d just found them.

Wiping his face on his sleeve, he pushed himself up off the floor, making sure not to look over at the open coffin as his eyes skimmed around the room, trying to figure out which tunnel was the exit.

Making his way around the room, he felt a small chill emanating from one of the tunnels, and following his instincts, he pushed himself up into the tunnel, making his way down it. He couldn’t feel much as he walked, just an empty numbness in his chest, as he tried not to think of what he was leaving behind.

**SNSN**

Adam made his way through the dark passage, hand feeling along the wall, which quickly led to the sewer tunnels. Swallowing hard, he tried to forget what he’d seen back in the room, tried to focus on just getting away from the room and the monsters that would no doubt be back shortly.

It was almost pitch black in the tunnel except for the small pockets of dull orange light that came in through the small grills that led up to the surface. Using his hand, he slid it along the wall, guiding him through the tunnels.

He and his friends would play in here all the time, using their flash lights to guide them, although they had never been in as deep as Adam now found himself. He continued walking, following the twists and turns for a long time, part of him wondering if he would ever make his way out, or whether he would find himself lost forever, either dying or having to live off what he found in the sewers.

The thought was cut off as he heard a noise, the sound of people walking reaching his ears a few seconds before he saw the flash of light. Adam felt himself freeze, his whole body locking up as he strained his eyes to actually see something.

The light was moving towards him and Adam could hear the two sets of footsteps growing closer. Something in him told him that this wasn’t his dad or Dean, the sense that danger was close running through him. He moved slowly backwards, back the way he had come from, remembering a section where the wall he had been following had disappeared for a moment, clearly another tunnel.

He couldn’t help but wince as his foot made something crunch on the floor, his ears straining to hear if the other people had heard him, but their steps didn’t seem to stop, the light coming closer.

Trailing his hand along the grimy wall, Adam started to think of what else he could do, sure that the section that led to the other tunnel was obviously further back than he had thought and he wouldn’t make it there in time. Then his hand only met air, the wall falling away into nothing.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Adam quickly moved into the tunnel, not moving too far away from the entrance, planning to slip out once the people had moved past.

It didn’t take long for the light to shine past the tunnel Adam was hiding in, the griminess coming into focus. Trying to flatten himself as much against the wall as he could, he scuffled back a bit so that the light wouldn’t show him to the people.

Watching the entrance, he felt his breath freeze in his lungs as he saw his mom, an ache starting in his chest, his eyes stinging as he looked away. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he tried to push the emotions to the back of his mind, to focus.

He needed to focus, to remember that he couldn’t fall apart now. Even with the thought running through his head, he felt tears slip out behind his eyes, his throat hurting as he tried to swallow.

It took him a long time to settle himself, to stop the silent heaving of his chest, the tears that were streaming down his face slowing as he took a deep, shuddering breath.

By the time he had himself under control, he couldn’t hear the footsteps anymore, the light having disappeared. Moving quietly towards the entrance, he stopped at the entrance, looking the way the people would’ve disappeared before slowly making his way in the direction he had been going before.

There was no warning as he was grabbed from behind, a yell leaving him as he was lifted from his feet, tight, almost painful arms holding him up.

“Hello, Adam.”

Adam couldn’t help the fear and terror that ran through him as he looked at the monster that was wearing his mother’s face, the flash lights the two were holding turned back on. He couldn’t help the few tears that fell from his eyes, as the pain at his loss hit him again.

“Oh, are you crying, sweetheart?” monster mom said, looking concerned before it morphed into an ugly smirk. “Did you find your mommy back there?”

Adam tried to pull his head away as the woman reached out and stroked his cheek, before gripping his chin.

“Told you we should’ve just eaten him,” the man holding him said, giving a painful squeeze of his arm.

“We will,” monster mom replied, grinning up at the man. “Just as soon as Winchester gets here.”

Her grin froze on her face, Adam watching in shock as her head tilted to one side, before her whole body collapsed. Dean appeared from behind the woman, a furious look on his face, as he stared at the man holding Adam.

“Let him go,” Dean said, his voice low, Adam able to hear the fury in it.

“I don’t think so, Winchester,” the man said, squeezing even tighter.

“Let him go.”

The gruff voice hadn’t come from Dean, but rather from behind them, Adam recognizing the dangerous tone in his dad’s voice. The man holding him tensed, Adam finding it hard to breath, his vision darkening as he tried to loosen the man’s hold.

“I wouldn’t do anything, Winchester,” the man said, relaxing a little.

“Oh, and why’s that?” John asked.

“It would only take one little move from me and your boy would be crushed,” the man said, smirk clear in his voice. As if wanting to prove his point, the man squeezed even tighter, Adam unable to stop the small groan that left him as he felt his ribs scream out in protest.

The blackness was creeping into his vision again, Adam wondering if the flash lights were cutting out, as his head felt lighter.

Before it cut out completely he saw anger and fear cross Dean’s face, before the pain blissfully disappeared, the darkness swallowing him.

**SNSN**

Dean sat outside the motel, sitting on the hood of the Impala as he stared down at his phone.

He could still feel the panic and fear lingering, as he remembered seeing Adam in the monster’s grasp, the little boy looking at him with wide eyes before he’d passed out, the ghoul clearly having been holding onto him far too tight for too long.

Adam’s slumping weight had been all the sign their father had needed, John chopping the head off the man, as Dean rushed forward and grabbed Adam from the monsters grasp. He was still worried about his little brother, the sight of the bruises over the boy’s chest making him want to hit something, and he wished he could take back the images of his dead mother the boy had.

He had found Kate when he had gone to make sure that there weren’t any more ghouls sneaking around. When he’d found the ghouls lair, he couldn’t fail to notice the open coffin, his heart squeezing as he saw the woman that was his brother’s mother dead.

He was supposed to protect his little brothers, and just like with Sam, he had failed.

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, knowing his father was inside the motel taking care of Adam. And even though he felt he should be in there, there was something he had to do first.

Dialling the number, he put the phone up to his ear, listening to the ringing, closing his eyes as it continued, no one picking up. It still hurt that Sam was able to ignore him so completely, didn’t care enough to at least pick up the phone and tell him he was alright.

Part of him wanted to hang up, not to leave a message, but he had to at least make an attempt to tell Sammy about Adam. He knew that his brother had always wished for another sibling, someone younger than him that he could help like Dean had helped him.

“Hi, this is Sam, I can’t come to the phone right now but please leave a message after the beep. Beep.”

“Hi, Sammy, it’s uh, it’s Dean. There’s something I need to talk to you about. So, um, call me, please. It’s important … Bye.”

Hanging up the phone, he sighed as he ran a hand over his face. Staying on the car for a few more seconds, he let the cool night air ease the tension in his shoulders, before making his way inside, to the little brother that needed him now.

**END**


End file.
